1978 Utah Utes football team

1978 Western Athletic Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion;

1978 Utah Utes football
1978 Utah Utes football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
1978 record	8–3 (4–2 WAC)
Head coach	Wayne Howard (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Ron McBride (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Gadd (2nd season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium
	Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Head coach Wayne Howard led the team to a 4–2 mark in the WAC and 8–3 overall.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 9	7:30 pm	Idaho State*	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	W 56–0	25,822^[1]
September 23	6:30 pm	at Houston*	Astrodome Houston	L 25–42	30,004^[1]
September 30	7:30 pm	Colorado State	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	W 30–6	27,821^[1]
October 7	12:00 pm	at Iowa*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	W 13–9	51,170^[1]
October 14	7:30 pm	Weber State*	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	W 30–7	23,458^[1]
October 21	1:30 pm	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming	L 21–34	20,758^[1]
November 4	1:30 pm	New Mexico	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	L 12–24	24,182^[1]
November 11	7:30 pm	at UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas	W 38–0	12,300^[1]
November 18	1:30 pm	BYU	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City (rivalry)	W 23–22	29,326^[1]
November 25	1:30 pm	at Utah State*	Romney Stadium Logan, Utah (rivalry)	W 23–20	16,509^[1]
December 2	7:00 pm	at San Diego State	San Diego Stadium San Diego	W 20–18	30,899^[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Mountain time

1978 Utah Utes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Defense

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Jeff Hucko

BYU Cougars at Utah Utes

	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU	10	6	6	0	22
Utah	0	0	7	16	23

at Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah

Game information

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	BYU	UTAH
1					BYU	20-yard field goal by Johnson	3	0
1					BYU	Jones 37-yard touchdown reception from McMahon, Johnson kick good	10	0
2					BYU	52-yard field goal by Johnson	13	0
2					BYU	21-yard field goal by Johnson	16	0
3					Utah	Teahan 25-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, Hucko kick good	16	7
3					BYU	Interception returned 20 yards for touchdown by Francis, Johnson kick no good	22	7
4					Utah	37-yard field goal by Hucko	22	10
4					Utah	Lindsay 42-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, Hucko kick good	22	17
4	2:15				Utah	Henry 19-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, 2-point pass failed	22	23
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							22	23

One player went in the 1979 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Rick Partridge	Punter	8	208	Green Bay Packers

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "1979 Utah Football Media Guide". University of Utah Athletic Department. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
^ "Ute Record Book" (PDF). University of Utah. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
^ "1978 record". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2009-09-24.

v t Utah Utes football
Venues	Robert Rice Stadium (1927–97) Rice–Eccles Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games BYU: Holy War (Beehive Boot) Colorado: Rumble in the Rockies Utah State: Battle of the Brothers (Beehive Boot)
Culture & lore	Swoop "Utah Man" Pride of Utah Utah pass
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
National championship seasons in bold

1978 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
BYU $	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Wyoming	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
San Diego State	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
UTEP	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion